[1] From 1982 to 1993 he worked in his hometown of Zadar as a technologist and manager at the Maraska distilling company[2] (which produces the world-famous Maraschino liqueur).

In 1989 he joined the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) and in 1993 his full-time political career started after he was elected to the Zadar City Council.

One of the chief accomplishments credited to his ministry was the completion of the A1 Highway linking the country's two largest cities, Zagreb and Split.

Soon afterwards, three former managers of Hrvatske autoceste, Jurica Prskalo, Mario Lovrinčević and Goran Legac, were arrested for embezzling over 21 million kuna on a public tender, together with a chief engineer Željko Kandžija and owner of a private construction company Slaven Žužul.

[13] In December 2010, Kalmeta dismissed the last remaining member of the Board of Directors of Hrvatske autoceste, Josip Sapunar, after he was indicted for participating in a large-scale embezzlement scheme.